Here's the report on a study I did. These numbers are for Wichita, Kansas. If you live somewhere else in the United States you can probably safely assume that the percentages are still pretty close! I received some updated info since I last posted this info so here it is updated. To make things easier I rounded the numbers to the closest thousand.
By The Numbers…
600 Churches in Wichita (apx.)
250 Seats per church average (apx.)
150,000 Total Seats
362,000 People in Wichita
217,000 (60%) Claim to be Christian
67,000 Too few seats if everyone shows up for church on Sunday
58% Average seats filled on Sundays
87,000 Average Wichita Sunday Attendance
130,000 (60%) Christians miss church in Wichita on Sundays
275,000 (75%) People in Wichita don’t attend church on Sundays
To make matters worse one of our local TV stations, KSN, reported on Friday, November 14, 2008 that only 5% of teenagers attend church! By comparison KSN said that number was 44% in 1944. The last US Census Bureau said that in Wichita 27.1% of the population is less than 18 years of age. Here’s the breakdown on that data.
98000 Youth
4900 or 5% Attend Church
93100 or 95% don’t attend church (WOW!)
While the above numbers may not be scientifically accurate, the numbers should be pretty close as I compiled them mostly from national averages plus what I could compile locally.
Now, my commentary! I hope that the above numbers help explain why our nation is headed in the direction it is headed! If we are only having 5% of our youth in church learning about and worshiping Jesus where in the world will we be in 20 years when these youth become the lawmakers of our country if we don’t do something now to turn this country, and more importantly our youth around.
The good news is that there is still time. It’s not going to be easy and it’s going to take all of us to make this happen. When I say all of us I most certainly include Jesus and his Holy Spirit because His Holy Spirit is going to have to lead us through this monumental battle that we are facing.
What’s it going to take for this nation to repent? First it’s going to take God’s people doing just what Jesus commanded us to do. Mark 16:15 says "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation.” Where is the world? Step out of your front door and you’re in the world! What do you need to do? Share your faith! That’s it, it’s that simple, just share your faith! Need help sharing your faith? Drop me an email and I’ll hook you up with a really simple way to share your faith called “Share Jesus Without Fear.”
Until next time…
Be Blessed!
BIG SCOTT
